Posted on August 3, 2009 in Latest News
Actigraphy is a non-invasive technique used to assess sleep-wake cycle across many consecutive days and nights. It has not traditionally been used in routine diagnosis of sleep disorders but recently it is increasingly being employed in sleep clinics to replace full polysomnography.
Actigraph: It a small instrument generally watch-shaped and worn on the wrist of the non-dominant arm. It is also called actigraph unit, actimetry sensor, acti-watch or sleep actigraph.
Procedure: A small actigraph unit is worn by a patient to measure gross motor activity. Motor activity often under test is that of the wrist, measured by an actigraph in a wrist-watch-like package. The unit continually records the movements it undergoes. The data is later read to a computer where it can be analyzed.
The patient is asked to keep a sleep diary over a week and fill few questionnaires about sleep quality, daytime sleepiness, fatigue and mood. This additional information will facilitate in the assessment of sleep wake cycles.
Recommendations and Assessment:
- Actigraphy is useful for assessing daytime sleepiness in situations where a laboratory sleep latency test is not appropriate. It is used to clinically evaluate insomnia, circadian rhythm sleep disorders, excessive sleepiness and restless legs syndrome. It is also used in assessing the effectiveness of pharmacologic, behavioural, phototherapeutic or chronotherapeutic treatments for such disorders.
- Actigraphy is indicated to assist in evaluating patients for Advanced Sleep Phase Syndrome (ASPS), Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome (DSPS), and shift-work sleep disorder as well as circadian rhythm disorders, including jet lag and non–24-hour sleep-wake syndrome (including that associated with blindness).
- When polysomnography is not available, actigraphy is indicated to estimate total sleep time in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. Compared with using time in bed, use of actigraphy combined with a validated method to monitor respiratory events may improve accuracy in determining the severity of obstructive sleep apnea.
- In patients with insomnia, including insomnia associated with depression, actigraphy is indicated as a method to characterize circadian rhythm patterns or sleep disturbances.
- In patients with complaints of hypersomnia, actigraphy is indicated as a method to determine circadian pattern and estimate average daily sleep time.
- Actigraphy is indicated to determine sleep patterns and to document treatment responses in healthy infants and children, in whom traditional sleep monitoring using polysomnography can be difficult to perform and/or interpret, as well as in special pediatric populations.
Comments
Leave a Reply
